Angle grinders may be used for various grinding and cutting operations. Various types of grinding or cutting wheels can be used and mounted on the grinder spindle. Grinding wheel guards, such as type-27 guards, are provided for grinding operations and cover approximately 180 degrees of the wheel periphery, but leave the outer surface of the wheel substantially exposed. This allows the grinding wheel to be mounted onto the tool spindle rather easily. Conventional cutting wheel guards, such as type-1 guards provided for cutting operations, cover approximately 180 degrees of the wheel periphery and approximately half of each both surfaces of the wheel. This arrangement is needed b/c cutting wheels are more likely to break, fly off the spindle, or shatter during a cutting operation. Conventional cutting guards are thick enough to allow the user to insert the wheel inside the guard at an angle and mount the wheel onto the grinder spindle. However, such cutting guards block a substantial part of the user's field of vision over the work piece.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,905,824, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, describes a guard assembly for abrasive accessory of an angle grinder that is selectively adjustable and repositionable with respect to the working tool. This provides the user to adjust the angular position of the shield assembly as desired. The '824 patent also describes a stop lever that permits the guard assembly to rotate in one direction (e.g., clockwise) without the user having to engage the lever, but in the other direction (e.g., counter-clockwise) only when the lever is engaged by the user. This stop lever is preferable by some users, particularly in grinding operations, where quick adjustment of the guard assembly increase user efficiency. Some users, however, prefer a lever that does not allow the guard to rotate in either direction without the lever is pressed. This is particularly true when using Type 1 accessories for cutting applications, where users tend to use the guard assembly as a leverage point to apply more force on the work piece.